Okay, so since this list already is huge for this month, I decided to omit the OVAs in this list, along with series that have already finished and belong to the previous season, like Chi’s Sweet Home and Wagaya no Oinarisama, in an attempt to keep this list a bit overviewable (although I do want to say that RD’s ending was probably my favourite ending of 2008). Overall, Fall 2008 is without a doubt the season with the biggest amount of solid titles of 2008 for me. There are lots of series that are already amazing, and just about as much series with enough potential to become amazing later on. It’s especially a season with lots of horror and comedy.

#43 (new) – Bihada Ichizoku – (1,5/10) – Okay, so the first episode was so laughably bad that I’m pretty sure that it’s going to end up as the show with the worst first episode of 2008 and 2007. If you ever want to know how not to write a story, watch this. Else: AVOID.#42 (30) – Rosario to Vampire – (3/10) – Dropped.#41 (new) – Kurogane no Linebarrels – (4,5/10) – I really don’t want to sit through another Romeo x Juliet or Dragonaut. Kurogane no Linebarrels shows every sign of a bad Gonzo series. Dropped.#40 (new) – Akane-iro ni Somaru Saka – (5/10) – What is it with these harem-series and their impossible hairstyles? I mean, it’s not even pretty. Dropped.#39 (new) – Kemeko Deluxe – (6/10) – The problem with this series is that it tries to be random for the sake of being random. There’s hardly a joke that really feels inspired. Dropped.#38 (new) – Tentai Senshi Sunred – (6/10) – The second episode was horribly dull, which indeed confirmed my fears about this series having no future at all. Dropped.#37 (new) – Macademi Wasshoi – (6,25/10) – This series just isn’t funny enough, especially compared to the other comedies this season. Dropped.#36 (new) – Kuroshitsuji – (6,25/10) – The fun in this series quickly ended, the characters turned into stereotypes and the individual stories so far have been simply boring. Dropped.#35 (new) – Toradora – (6,75/10) – I’ve sat through one season of Shana, and that was more than enough. Dropped.#34 (new) – Yozakura Quartet – (6,75/10) – The most interesting part of this series were the two minutes of back-story at the beginning of the first episode. That’s got to be a bad thing, right? Dropped.#33 (new) – Inazuma 11 – (7/10) – So, this is one for the kids out there. I admit it’s better than your average series of the genre, but I see no reason why anyone over 12 years old would get excited over it. Dropped.#32 (new) – To Aru Majutsu no Index – (7/10) – It’s a shame that this series had to air during a busy season like this. Otherwise, I would have wanted to give this one a chance, to see whether it’ll turn better over time, but right now there’s much better stuff airing. Dropped.#31 (19) – Shugo Chara – (7/10) – You know, I could have enjoyed this series if it wasn’t for the fact that it’s just so damned long. Right now, the time needed to put into this series just isn’t worth the reward in the end. Dropped. Again.#30 (new) – Hokuto no Ken Raoh Gaiden – (7,25/10) – It’s a manly series and all, but I just don’t see any potential in this one. Dropped.#29 (24) – Vampire Knight – (7,25/10) – I sat through the first season, but I don’t think I have the will nor the patience to do the same with thirteen more episodes. Dropped.#28 (23) – Noramimi – (7,5/10) – Noramimi is a decent enough show to watch one episode of, but after that there really isn’t much of a reason to continue watching it, especially in such a large season as this one. Dropped.#27 (17) – Soul Eater – (7,5/10) – Well, I finally decided to drop this thing completely. The thing is that it would have fitted much better as a series with just 39 episodes. Right now, this series is just trying to stretch its airtime with pointless exposition that goes on for episodes at a time. That’s not what a fun-filled action-series is supposed to be.#26 (new) – Stitch! – (7,5/10) – I originally wanted to keep watching this series, but this season is just too busy for that. It’s a nice children’s series, though. Dropped.#25 (new) – Kyou no Go Ni – (7,5/10) – If the season wasn’t so busy already, I would have watched this, but this seasons has just too many comedies already. Dropped.#24 (new) – Kannagi – (7,75/10) – For now, I’m going to continue with this series. Some of the jokes work and the characters are adorable if they really try. However, the animation is incredibly inconsistent: it ranges from incredibly good to incredibly bad. This series also tries too hard to become a harem, it would have been just fine to show the daily antics between the male and female lead. There’s enough material for that to fill up 12 episodes.#23 (13) – Junjo Romantica – (7,75/10) – So far, nothing special yet, but then again the “hot passion” has yet to erupt. I’m not sure about the exact potential of the love-jealous brother yet, but with a bit of luck Usagi’s past will shed more light into that.#22 (new) – Tales of the Abyss – (7,75/10) – So far, I’m not sure about the magic-system of this series, and why little girls that are barely ten years old seem to be masters in them. Luke and Tear do have a lot of potential, though, and I expect this series to show to get fired off as soon as its second half starts.#21 (11) – Clannad – (8/10) – Clannad shines when it takes itself seriously. It falls when it doesn’t, and apart from the first episode, this formula hasn’t changed much in the second season: the comedy just wasn’t interesting, but the serious moments really made up for it.#20 (new) – Ga-Rei Zero – (8/10) – The big problem with Ga-Rei Zero is that out of all the interesting characters they could have chosen, the producers decided to focus on the least interesting one. The girl is a whiny brat, and really brings down the awesome set-up of the first two episodes. I’m hoping right now that she’s going to develop properly, and doesn’t make this one of those series where the best episode is the first one.#19 (new) – Chaos;Head – (8/10) – So far, the potential’s definitely there. The only really bad part is the stereotypical sister, but I do see her role in this series. It’s an interesting paranoid mystery-series.#18 (new) – Shikabane Hime – (8/10) – Shikabane Hime has been pretty solid so far. It’s not the best of the season, but the potential’s definitely there. What stood out the most was the nice characterization and interesting fight-sequences.#17 (11) – Telepathy Shoujo Ran – (8,25/10) – Much of the same, which is a good thing for this series. I do hope that the final parts of this series will at least include some character-development, because this series has been awfully dry on that part. A real shame with such enjoyable characters.#16 (new) – Tytania – (8,25/10) – Okay, so it’s been mostly (if not all) building up this month, but you can already see that this is going to be a very interesting political thriller once all the pieces have been set right.#15 (new) – Michiko e Hatchin – (8,25/10) – One of the few new series that’s not some sort of adaptation of something, and it shows. Detailed characterization, an incredibly original setting, and nice production-values to back it up. For now, it’s still a bit one-sided and it’s nothing amazing yet, but I can already see the characters grow into something memorable.#14 (new) – Kurozuka – (8,25/10) – Kurozuka is basically one big horror-feast for the senses, with a pretty intriguing story to boot. The OP is also my number one for this season.#13 (new) – Hyakko – (8,25/10) – I’m really surprised, from afar the characters look like a lot of stereotype, and yet the series has been consistently hilarious so far. This one can actually keep being funny through its entire run, provided that the creators aren’t going to stuff in some dramatic climax at the end.#12 (11) – ef – a tale of melodies – (8,5/10) – Hmm, I think that this series was a bit too keen on getting to the meat of the series, but on the other hand it’s probably going to take six more episodes before we get to see the point that the creators are trying to make. Nevertheless, it’s a very solid series so far, and definitely an example of how a good visual-novel adaptation should be done.#11 (3) – Bonen no Xamdou – (8,5/10) – It seems that this series is on a short break to let the Japanese broadcast version catch up to the English one, apparently. It should be back around half November, I think.

#10 (9) – Mobile Suit Gundam 00(8,5/10)
This series really can go anywhere from this point, but at least the second season stared off really nicely. Now let’s hope that the creators can keep up this pace.

#9 (25) – Nodame Cantabile – (8,5/10)
So far, it’s a hilarious start of the second season, but the question is of course whether the drama that’s going to pop up in the rest of the series is going to live up to the first season, and whether eleven episodes are enough for that.

#8 (new) – One Outs – (8,5/10)
I think Usagijen says it all. I’m really surprised that One Outs turned into the most underrated series of the season, considering Akagi and Kaiji’s fanbase. One Outs is intense, intelligent and exciting, and even though I don’t understand everything while watching raws, something tells me that I’m going to enjoy this series a lot more than I did with Kaiji, especially since I don’t have to write about it on a weekly basis.

#7 (5) – Porfy no Nagai Tabi – (8,75/10)
Woo! It’s finally time to get to the real meat of this series. This month, Porfy has still shown travel-arcs, but the storyline suddenly got much darker as Porfy arrived into France. I’m really curious to see whether this series can surpass the amazing Earthquake-arc.

#6 (2) – Gintama – (8,75/10)
Ehrem… I was eating some very spicy crisps during episode 87… Yeah… That was it….

#5 (10) – Blade of the Immortal – (8,75/10)
An excellent month for Blade of the Immortal, especially the growth of the characters is getting more interesting with every episode.

#4 (new) – Casshern Sins – (8,75/10)
Without a doubt the series with the best art-direction that’s currently airing. Everything about this series looks just amazing. The characters started out a bit dodgy, but I’ve found that the script is surprisingly intelligent and well written.

#3 (new) – Skip Beat – (8,75/10)
Skip Beat so far has been an hilarious shoujo-series, that also continues to develop its lead character, rather than keep with a bunch of bloody stereotypes.

#2 (9) – Jigoku Shoujo – (8,75/10)
This show’s crack! Really, the difference with the first seasons has been huge so far, and yet the third season is incredibly entertaining.

#1 (new) – Mouryou no Hako – (9/10)
Definitely my number one pick of the shows that started airing in the Autumn-Season. It’s got such a complex and mysterious story, the visual direction is awesome and there is so much expressivity in the characters.

13 Responses

Look, psgels, I’ve never seen Shana or ZnT, but Toradora isn’t bad. Taiga can be slightly annoying sometimes, but she’s mostly just fine. Furthermore, she’s not even tsundere. It’s not a harem at all, either-of the main three females, two like the best friend, and no female character has shown real interest in the protagonist. Surprisingly, many girls show interest in the best friend for a genuine reason-he’s nice, sociable, and a leader type. Cheers to him for breaking the glasses-guy mold.
That said, it’s not the best thing airing either. There are some moments that have enough cliche in them to make one internally groan a bit. It’s just a very random high school slice-of-life show and an entertaining way to spend half an hour every week.
Ga-rei’s flaw is the fanservice as far as I’m concerned. Apparently, it’s going to be a prequel to the manga.
And, uh, BTW, I don’t know if you were just out of it or something, but ‘a’ goes before ‘hilarious,’ not ‘an.’

Senerikfred: ah, thanks for claring that up. I may have given Toradora too little of a chance, but with the current season, I still doubt whether I’ll have enough time to continue watching it anyway. Oh, and thanks for pointing out that typo. I usually spell-check my posts, but there are still lots of errors that get past me.

Omo: okay, allow me to rephrase that part: the main character is intelligent. Some of the members of the cast are indeed pretty stupid, but the fun in this series comes from that main character taking total advantage from this.

I’d partly agree about toradora, I’ve never watched Shana so I’m not sure where the comparison comes from. I was comparing toradora more to Lovely Complex, except it’s trying to be more serious than comedic, and failing at it miserably. Still, we already know what’s going to happen even though it’s only a few episodes in, so it’s probably not worth watching. I think rating it the same as Yozakura is harsh though, atleast there’s something likeable about it.

I’ve probably been similarly harsh with Hyakko, since you seem to rate it so highly. I was incredebly bored after episode 1 and couldn’t find the motivation to watch any more, but I guess I’ll give it a second shot.

I’m gonna give One outs a try too. I kinda just omitted it because of the baseball element, it’s hardly a celebrated sport in the UK. Also Kaiji ended up dissapointing me after the boat arc, hopefully this wont.

I try watching Toradora coz at first it reminds me of haruhi but when I watch it on and on , it becomes very dull and the two main is kind of stupid. It focus too much on the love factor than I initially thought which makes it really cliche and boring.

And I don’t know why you still enjoy Hyakko, since ep.1 I didn’t laugh even a bit about their jokes , more like absurd than a joke. But I agree with you about Yozakura quartet, it’s just….not interesting at all.

Your top ten shows are still mostly my fav.show this season anyway although as TOA fan, I rate it a little more than you. But I guess I can understand if I’m an anime viewer who never play the game before , it should feel like giving it not more than 8. But as the gamers , when seeing hints/lies here and there, it just feels fun to watch something that you know there’s going to be a plot twist.

I watched Bihada Ichizoku and I have seen worse. I can’t recommend this show either. The plot is shallow but I wasn’t surprised because it is anime it doesn’t have to be deep. The most hilarious part in the anime are the glowing eyes. I don’t know if this is what they wanted to show but it really is funny. I watched the cracked sub of the show by ‘facepalm.jpg’ and it adds hilarity to the show! I think I’m going to watch it just for kicks.

I actually thought of One Outs as an ‘intelligent series’ too, and found the gambling aspect it paints to baseball to be refreshing. Then again it’s because I’m seeing this from a baseball n00b’s perspective =/

One Outs definitely is an intelligent show. Not that it’s all for smarts or anything, but all the psychological mindgame actually makes sense. Typical of the guys who made Akagi and Kaiji and converting this one.

There’s a quite a few other I’m still absolutely enamored over, like with Soul Eater. Considering it IS a shonen show, I don’t think the length itself is a problem.

There’s a bunch others, but I respect Mouryou no Hako, even if it’s not my fave since it’s just so damn dour. But it is a good mystery show.

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Bam

(Wednesday, Mar 4. 2015 12:44 AM)

@Ebod: while it would definitely be ideal if a Japanese actress like Yukie Nakama or Keiko Kitagawa played the role of major Kusanagi, Hollywood practices make it very improbable. So the options left are either Asian actresses that are known in Hollywood such as Rinko Kikuchi, or American actresses of Asain decent like Natalie Mendoza or Grace Huang.

Ebod

(Tuesday, Mar 3. 2015 08:22 PM)

V for Vendetta for me has always been a more “literary” work than Watchmen, but Watchmen is spectacular because it’s a story that can only be told in full scope in the comic format. While I feel like many major themes and events from V for Vendetta could easily be adapted into, say, novel format, the same could not be said of Watchmen.
Also, the racist whitewashing Hollywood does of Asian characters really has to stop.

Bam

(Tuesday, Mar 3. 2015 06:30 AM)

Watchmen was deemed ‘unadaptable’ for about thirty years, so just getting what Snyder got out of the material is a huge success; it is said that what he did was to write a book version of Ingmar’s Holy Mountain. Watchmen is the only graphic novel to ever win a Hugo award and is easily the most intricate and multilayered Alan Moore comic, so it’s no surprise that it continues to top ‘best comics of all time’ charts to this day.

Bam

(Tuesday, Mar 3. 2015 06:20 AM)

I beg to differ. Doctor Manhatten is the most intriguing character of Watchmen and the comic is a giant in ,not only in the comic world, but the history of literature itself. It is a deconstruction of superheros and Dr. M shows how afraid the world would really be when faced with a ‘superman’ and how a creature in such a higher realm of time and perception would show apathy toward humans and their foolish struggles.

Bam

(Tuesday, Mar 3. 2015 06:15 AM)

GitS just won’t work. Maybe in a world before the Matrix, but not now with so many elements of it borrowed liberally by so many franchises in various mediums. Scarlet Johansson is decent in roles that fit her. She was enjoyable in Lost In Translation, but race aside she has nothing in common with Kusanagi. This is a travesty and the franchise is dear to me so it especially burns my ass.

Emma

(Tuesday, Mar 3. 2015 06:10 AM)

While I am no fan of man of steel, Nolan and Snyder, just about anyone would have a hard time taking a difficult character like superman and making him work on screen.

Emma

(Tuesday, Mar 3. 2015 06:08 AM)

Apart from Veidt and Rorshach I could never get into the characters all that much in watchmen. I also found the film overly long and mediocre acted for the larger part. But to each there own. For Alan moores works I always preferred his Miracleman, swamp thing, V for Vendetta stories.

Bam

(Tuesday, Mar 3. 2015 06:06 AM)

Nolan can produce the action plus personal and dark story that Alita would need, and he also brings talent such as composer Hans Zimmer and Cinematographer Sally Pfister to the table. Him and Snyder have too much combined integrity to make a mockery out of Alita like Spielberg did with the GitS license.

Bam

(Tuesday, Mar 3. 2015 06:03 AM)

Well Snyder has respect for his source materials and that is key in anime-to-film adaptations. Hell I’m a big Watchmen fan and I thought his version was (almost painfully) close to the comic. You’re not going to get that anywhere else in Hollywood. Also the combination of Nolan/Snyder is quite different than them individually.

Emma

(Tuesday, Mar 3. 2015 05:34 AM)

And directed it as a co-production with America, using a Japanese cast.
Yeah…this is impossible…

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